


Greenhouse Ghost Stories

by Nightlightgoth



Series: Three Houses One-Shots [6]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, In which Caspar is oblivious to the concept of cuddling, M/M, One Shot, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-22 07:56:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20870828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightlightgoth/pseuds/Nightlightgoth
Summary: Caspar and Ashe have greenhouse duty together, and it takes all night. Caspar entertains himself by spooking Ashe with a ghost story. Ashe makes him deal with the consequences.





	Greenhouse Ghost Stories

“Hey, Ashe! Looks like we’re going to be out here a while,” Caspar said. With his hands on his hips, he surveyed the greenhouse.

“I suppose it does look that way, doesn’t it? Well, let’s get started, then!” Ashe was already on his hands and knees in front of one of the planters, plucking weeds and tossing them into a pile behind him. Caspar knelt beside him and scratched his head.

“Aw, gee, who’s been slacking on this? I haven’t seen this many weeds in here in… ever!”

Ashe laughed and shook his head. “You  _ did _ say we’re going to be out here a while.”

“Yeah, I guess I did. Man, I can’t believe how many weeds there are!”

“You know, it might be an easier job if we talk about something else.”

“Oh, sure! What did you have in mind?”

Ashe shrugged.

“Come on. You’ve got to have  _ something _ to talk about.”

“Not really. I think the only interesting thing that’s happened recently was our four-footed thief!”

Caspar let out a loud laugh, throwing his head back as he did. “Of all the thieves we’ve taken care of, that one has to be my favorite.”

“Mine, too,” Ashe said with a chuckle.

The pair discussed their feline friend as they worked until they found nothing else to say on the matter. Then, they opted to discuss their classes and the work they were doing, and then they decided to talk about training. Eventually, there was little left to entertain them about the topic of daily life, and there was still a fair deal of work to be done.

It was the moment that Ashe jumped when the greenhouse doors slammed shut as one of the keepers left that Caspar’s lips stretched into a mischievous grin. The sun was getting low, and the usual bustling of students outside had crept to a halt. The last of the greenhouse keepers was about to leave for the day, and the two would be alone as they finished their work. Caspar wondered if maybe it was a bit cruel, but the thought was pushed aside in favor of imagining Ashe jumping out of his skin.

Once the last keeper bid them goodnight and shut the door, Caspar all but bounded over to Ashe.

“Hey, did I ever tell you about why Annette refuses to work in the greenhouse now?” he asked.

Ashe looked up from what he was doing and shook his head.

“Oh, man. This is a good one. You might want to sit down for this.”

Ashe narrowed his eyes at Caspar and wiped his hands on his pants, leaving dirt smeared across them. “What are you up to?”

“Nothing! Really! I just have a good story to tell a good friend of mine!”

“Hmm. Okay, then go ahead.”

“Great!” Caspar sat cross-legged in front of Ashe, who was continuing to pluck weeds as he listened. “So one day we had to work in here together. It was pretty early, the sun was still up, pretty nice day. Then Annette realized she forgot to bring the baskets we needed to harvest all the vegetables. She got distracted, classic Annie, and she didn’t come back until almost sunset. I was so mad, but she gave me a sweet she’d grabbed in the dining hall and it was fine.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“Hey! I try to be forgiving! Sometimes. She’s lucky I didn’t just run off and try to find her.”

“You stayed here the whole time she was gone?”

“Okay, I might have left for a  _ little bit _ , but it was fine! She didn’t even know!”

Ashe laughed and stretched his legs, propping himself up on his arms. He flipped his hair out of his face and Caspar continued.

“Anyways, so she finally gets back and it’s almost sunset. But now we still have all this work to do, and we’re going to be here after dark! Kind of like today, I guess.”

Ashe narrowed his eyes again at Caspar’s sly smile, but didn’t get a chance to say anything.

“We were  _ almost _ done when we heard a knock at the door. We didn’t see anyone outside, so I got up to go check. For all I knew, our furry friend was trying to get his meals right from the source. I got up and opened the door and -you’re never going to believe this- there was nobody there.”

“Ha ha. Very funny, Caspar. If you want to scare me, your ghost stories have to be a little better than that.”

“Aw, come on! That wasn’t scary at all?”

“Not even a little.”

“Whatever. Let’s finish up in here and get out. I’m starving.”

The two continued, but Ashe couldn’t help but feel that he was being watched. It was a horrible story. It shouldn’t have been scary at all. Still, Ashe found himself jumping at every small noise and constantly looking over his shoulder. He did his best to keep Caspar from noticing, and for a while it worked.

Once they finished, though, and headed out of the greenhouse and into the dark night, Ashe was on edge. He bit his lip and wrung his hands as if that would keep them steady as they walked. The dorms were so close; there was no reason to worry. Caspar had even decided to forgo the dining hall in favor of getting into bed sooner.

The moment they were outside his door, Ashe threw it open and rushed inside. As far as he was concerned, his room was a safe space to hide. Caspar quirked a brow at him but the small smile and the glint in his eyes said he knew he’d succeeded. Frustrated at that, Ashe told him goodnight and slammed the door. He heard Caspar laugh as he walked away and to his own room.

Ashe huffed as he changed his clothes and got into bed. He hesitated before putting out the candle beside him. Sleep taunted him, though. No matter how tired he was, Ashe couldn’t get himself to doze off. He tossed and turned for what felt like hours, every sound a ghost creeping up on him and every shadow a demon sneaking around. He had resigned himself to not sleeping when he heard a scratch at his door.

His heart began to race and he pulled his blankets tighter around himself. He stared, wide-eyed, at the gap beneath his door. It wasn’t much of one -he would be surprised if a bug could creep in under it- but it was enough to be alarming to him. He held his breath, waiting for the scratch to happen again. It didn’t. He sighed with relief and settled back against his pillow.

The second scratch made him jump and yelp.

“Wh-who’s there?”

When there was no reply, Ashe whined and squeezed his eyes shut.

“I-I’m not afraid of you! Go haunt someone else!”

Caspar’s familiar laugh made him jump again, but he quickly gathered himself and sighed. He ran his hands over his face before getting out of his bed and crossing his room.

“Oh, man! I wanted to keep that up for longer, but ‘Go haunt someone else’ killed me! That was great!” Caspar said through his laughter when Ashe opened the door.

“You’re terrible.”

“Come on. That was hilarious.”

“It was not,” Ashe said, looking away and crossing his arms over his chest.

“Aww, don’t be mad, Ashe! I was just having a little fun!”

“Hmph.”

“Hey, did it really scare you that much?”

Ashe bit his lip and felt blush rising to his cheeks. He wanted to deny it, but he knew that was pointless.

“Jeeze, I’m sorry. I didn’t think it was that bad.” Caspar rubbed the back of his neck and did his best to look innocent. Ashe glanced over at him and away again.

“You know, you can make it up to me.”

“Uh oh.”

“I can’t sleep.”

“Oh. Is that all? I can go get some tea.”

“No. Just…” Ashe bit his lip again and looked from Caspar to his bed. “You could spend the night. I wouldn’t… feel so scared if you did.”

Caspar gave Ashe a lopsided grin and laughed. “Good one. What kind of tea do you want?”

Ashe looked at his feet.

“Oh, were you serious?”

Ashe nodded.

“I mean, okay. I don’t see how that helps, but I guess I can.”

Caspar stepped into the room and Ashe shut the door behind him. He yawned and climbed back into his bed, and Caspar followed suit.

“There’s, uh, not much room for both of us, is there?” Caspar asked.

Ashe chuckled and inched closer. “No, not really.”

There was a long moment of quiet before Caspar shifted, stretching his arm out above Ashe on the pillow. “Sorry, let me just…”

Ashe inched closer again, this time enough to curl up against Caspar’s side. Caspar made a surprised sort of noise and looked down at Ashe. He watched him, confused, as he rested his head on his chest. Caspar blinked a few times and started to ask what he was doing, but found he couldn’t speak. His face was redder than Ashe’s had been moments ago and all he could do was stare at the boy laying on him. It wasn’t until Ashe sighed and nuzzled his neck that Caspar realized what he was doing. It, of course, only made him blush more furiously, but he dropped his arm around Ashe’s shoulders and pulled him closer anyways.

“So, uh, how does this make it up to you?”

Ashe made a sound that was somewhere shy of a laugh. “You’re the one that scared me, so you have to cuddle with me. Sleeping alone is scarier than sleeping with you.”

“Wh-what’s that supposed to mean? Is it ‘cause I can fight off anything scary?”

“Sure.”

“Hey, wait, don’t start falling asleep yet! I don’t get it!”

“Hmm. I’ll explain later.”

“Is this one of your weird plans to fix things without fighting them? ‘Cause if it is, I think it needs more punching.”

“Go sleep, ‘spar,” Ashe said through a yawn.

“Yeah, yeah. All right. Goodnight Ashe.”

Caspar pulled him just a bit closer before falling asleep, too.


End file.
